Biotech on $4m mission to extend healthspan by 20 years based on biomarkers of aging in Phase 3 trial by the end of this decade.
Clock.bio, a longevity biotech developing novel regenerative medicines leveraging the natural ability of human pluripotent stem cells to prevent and treat age-related diseases, today announced it has launched out of stealth after reaching proof-of-concept with $4 million in funding.
The company’s immediate scientific objective is to decode all rejuvenation programs present in human cells, to build an atlas of disease and rejuvenation targets for clinical translation.
“We have a bold mission of extending human healthspan by 20 years based on biomarkers of aging in a Phase 3 trial by the end of this decade. Embryonic stem cells hold the key to unlocking rejuvenation biology,” said Mark Kotter, clock.bio’s Founder.
“We believe that a comprehensive understanding of all relevant repair processes is the best starting point for designing regenerative and healthspan increasing treatments.”
Clock.bio aims to extend and improve quality of life by reversing the harmful effects of time in our cells, harnessing the regenerative capabilities of human pluripotent stem cells. The company has developed an aging model that force-ages human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and triggers their self-rejuvenation mechanism. Unbiased CRISPR screens on large samples of these cells allow for the identification of gene candidates that are causally relevant for cell rejuvenation. The company’s strategy includes proprietary aging-interventions for iPSCs, unbiased screens for rejuvenation biology, identification and validation of rejuvenation targets and therapeutic lead prioritization and translation into clinical applications.
Markus Gstöttner will be joining clock.bio as CEO. He co-founded Meatable, a cultured meat company that uses iPSC and opti-ox technologies, which he started with Mark Kotter and others. Building on this cooperation, Markus will join the company to drive clock.bio’s mission of finding new treatments for age-related diseases; he is currently EIR at BlueYard Capital, with a prior background in public service for the Austrian government, management consulting at McKinsey, and development economics (LSE/J-PAL).
“Somatic cells age but cannot rejuvenate. Pluripotent stem cells are the only cells in the human body that can rejuvenate. Our unique approach is to force-age human iPSCs and trigger their self-rejuvenation mechanism,” said incoming CEO Gstoettner.
“Human aging is a complex process that is difficult to model in cell culture. clock.bio’s model delivers ‘aging in a dish,’ where unbiased CRISPR screens reveal the genes that cause aging/rejuvenation and thus uncover drivers.”
Clock.bio says it is on track to decode the biology of human rejuvenation across the entire genome in 12 months. The result should be a comprehensive atlas of disease and rejuvenation targets for clinical translation, and clock.bio’s vision is to use this technology to enable a comprehensive decoding of rejuvenation biology, to create novel treatment approaches.
